AMA. Curtis and I worked out a deal

It's been a bit of a struggle. Curtis regards the laptop as an usurper taking his rightful place. Even when I help to organize him settled in, he isn't happy. But today it all worked out. We were cuddled together for quite a while, him lying on his back between my thigh and the arm of the chair.

 I figured out when a major event in the book happens, and how to merge two chunks I'd written. Writing is easier when there is the sound and vibration of purring.

That was after the swim this morning. 45 minutes, fairly strong, with the pool mostly to myself. One of the swim clubs came in just as I was finishing. I could never be part of a swim club. The coach was all 100 m this, 200 m that, on the 40 blah blah blah, echoing. There were some hieroglyphics on the whiteboard, but they didn't help. The kids seemed to get sense out of it, hopping in as I was hopping out. I watched a bit. They cruise along, relaxed, recovering, faster than I can swim all out.

Then an errand to Sunterra for a nice evening meal (herb-roasted leg of lamb, Thai salmon, roasted yam, and Parisienne spuds. Blueberry cheesecake for dessert. Carrot cake for later. Primitivo wine.) We need not discuss the woman wearing pajamas gassing up her car at Coop this morning. It was still cold. I couldn't tell if she still had slippers on.

While swimming I mused about some thoughts. Some of my buddies have just run 31 days in a row on the Strides streak thing. Yay them! I could never do that. Even short distances I think I'd be so beaten up by the end of the week I'd by lying there, feet in the air, begging to be put out of my pain.

But I was thinking, there is swim, bike, run, snowshoeing, yoga. Hmmmm. So here it is, almost 7pm on NYE. Supper was good, the wine is good, and I'm almost ready to hit publish. I think I'll go back to the novel. But maybe not. Maybe I'll put a movie on. I don't know. Hmmmm.

Runner Leana
Here are a couple of AMA questions! How did you and Linda meet?
We met in a middle school gym off of McKnight blvd October 1982. We were both involved in a medieval recreation organization. It's well known, you might recognize the name if I said it. She took one look, basically, and executed a perfect BDD. She sensed my innate weakness and vulnerability,  (cookies) and thought the odds were good for a successful outcome to the women's lifetime project thing. It just occurred to me that a couple of my blog readers could have been there, and just might have an alternate view of things. Hang tight guys, I'll get some wine to you if you stay silent about your versions. We don't want to confuse the audience here.

I have been told this is inadequate. That it's very much along the lines of what I wrote to my Granny once, where I said "Linda is out of the hospital and doing fine" and then went on to other relevant news. Which was perfectly true, and in my mind, perfectly adequate. Women. Within a week there was a letter from my Granny, addressed to Linda Mulligan (our mail from her had been addressed as Mr and Mrs Keith Cartmell up to that point) asking for ALL the details, and excoriating me firmly for my lack of understanding of her needs.

None the less, BDD is an accurate description of what happened that night. I was swept off my feet and carried away. Things have never been the same. Better of course. Yes dear, much better. In all ways. Of course dear.

Still, one has to admire her courage. I look back on myself and shudder. I was a pretty callow youth back than.

We ended up renting a townhouse, getting a cat, building the house we are now in (paying someone to build, not doing it ourselves), then getting married. Linda kept her name because I'm not fussed about things like that, and back then money was tight. After paying the mortgage and bills, there was very, very little left over. If she took my name, the bank would have collapsed our accounts together, and we would have lost about 5K of potential credit. We ended up not needing it, but one never knows these things in advance.

Would you ever shave your mustache? 
I think not. Maybe if the donation to charity went to serious values. Serious. Very Serious. Very, Very, Seriously Serious. I think you get the idea. Feel free to start a collection.

If you did another Ironman would you pick Challenge over a WTC race? 
I think at this stage I'm not going to do another Ironman. The more I think about it, the more amazed that I got through it last time. After spending a few years simply trying to get in regular workouts, I do not think I could train credibly for IM while working a regular job. If it somehow became possible, I think I'd try the Challenge, because it's the same stunningly beautiful course and closer than Whistler or Quebec.

What is one thing (athletically) you would like to achieve?
I want to do the Calgary Marathon before I'm too decrepit. Some days there is considerable internal discussion if this point has been reached or not.

As a bonus, I'll throw in a professional thing. I'd like to get my book published and on the bookshelves. Some sales would be nice. I am still musing about the self publish, and traditional publish routes. Much of what I read I'm suspicious about. It smells very much like "5 ways to make your opening paragraph pop!" or "4 tricks to rivet reader attention." Yeah.